Never Waste Tears

by Gloria Zachgo

Overview

Each had their own reason to leave everything they knew. The land was free-the true price-was often high, where opportunities and tragedies were in equal abundance. Those who were strong, didn't waste their tears, but used them wisely to help wash away their grief.Joined together through friendship and family relations, Rebecca, Nathan, Hannah, Carl, and Sarah tell one story-each in their own voice. Never Waste Tears travels with them on their trek to homestead on the lonely Kansas prairie, where they pave the way for generations to come. They individually share their own dreams, challenges, heartaches, and guilt.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781502376688
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	12/24/2014
Series:	Never Waste , #1
Pages:	406
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

As a child I had the freedom to roam our Kansas farm while riding my horse and favorite friend, Nellie. I also attended one of the last in the country, one-room schoolhouses for my first eight years of education. I became quite independent (it sounds better than saying I was a little stubborn) and a self-learner.

When I became an adult I fulfilled my dream of becoming a wife and mother. My high school sweetheart and I are still together today. And I am still finding new and exciting things to explore. My interests, likes, and dislikes are changing constantly and I'm usually most passionate with whatever I'm doing at the time. But two of my passions-writing and painting-seem to be loves that are not going to leave me soon.
After my first novel, The Rocking Horse, I changed my genre to historical fiction. Never Waste Tears was the result.

Editorial Reviews

2017-07-24
Fictional diary entries tell the story of two couples who move west to forge new lives during the Reconstruction Era. Nathan Carter and Rebecca Martin are living in Ohio when the Civil War erupts. Nathan, 13, is left in charge of his father's store in Eaton when his dad and brothers leave to fight the secessionists. But Nathan dreams of becoming a farmer. Rebecca, 12, is being raised as a proper young lady, as her mother prods her to consider well-to-do suitors. But she has always been smitten with Nathan, whom she sees at the store periodically. He returns her affection and manages to win over her family and secure her hand in marriage. When he announces his intention to move out West with his beloved to farm, Rebecca's mother is distraught. But Rebecca seems unconcerned about her parent's worries about "savages." The couple travel to Independence, Missouri, and join a wagon train, where they meet an older pair, Carl and Hannah Taylor. This is where the story really hits its stride. The journey west is challenging, but reaching their destination, a homestead in Kansas, fails to bring any solace to Rebecca—especially once she realizes she will be living in a house made of sod because there aren't enough trees in the area to construct a cabin. This is perhaps the least of the trials that the couples will endure. Grief remains a constant throughout their lives. In Kansas-based author Zachgo's (The Rocking Horse, 2011) historical novel, the prose style differs with every character. For example, Rebecca's writing is genteel while Carl's and Hannah's offerings are less refined. Rebecca's entries in the beginning of the work are much shorter than Nathan's and she gets more development through his chronicles than her own. But when the action moves to the prairie, her character gains dimension and her struggles deftly illustrate the loneliness and dangers of life there. At times, these strong passages are wrenching to read. The addition of the Taylors further expands the absorbing story. Readers who persevere through the sparse beginning will progress to a more detailed and often heart-rending tale of pioneers homesteading in Kansas after the Civil War.

Kirkus Reviews